Dr. Dre turned down working with Prince and Michael Jackson: “What the f**k am I going to do with them?”

While most artists would jump at the opportunity to work with their musical heroes, Dr. Dre has admitted to passing up on the chance to do just that.

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Speaking on a new episode of Kevin Hart’s Hart to Heart show, Dr. Dre recalls Prince and Michael Jackson asking him to work with them, saying his initial thoughts were: ‘What the fuck am I going to do with them?’

“Those are my fucking heroes,” he says, adding that he’d recently turned down an invitation to collaborate with Stevie Wonder.

The producer explains that he likes “the way [he] [feels] about Stevie, Prince, Michael, Bruce Springsteen and all of these amazing artists,” which “could change by working with them.”

“These are my fucking heroes…. I like the idea of what I grew up listening to and I want to keep it like that. And I don’t want to fuck up that idea and that look.”

Elsewhere in the chat, Dre also shares that instead of big name musicians, he much prefers working with artists who are just starting out.

“My entire life and career has been dealing with and working with new artists. That’s what I like,” he says. “Nobody comes in with an agenda. It’s a ball of clay when they walk in the room. You can just form it and do what you want. That’s what I want.”

“Everybody else, especially my heroes, they’re coming in and there’s a set plan as to how the shit should sound, you know. I can’t explore.”